A mass exodus overseas by members including the President Wine Master and Vice-president saw Steve Liebeskind chairing the lunch and Peter Kelso doing wines for chef James Hill, assisted by Gary Linnane. At least Ross MacDonald was on hand with the cheese, with Spencer Ferrier dispensing the coffee.

Canapes were provided by Gary in part, comprising a nicely textured and flavoured salmon rillettes on small sourdough slices from Iggy's; the balance being two types of saloumi, or spicy pork sausage,from James, simply served in rounds. One was mild, the other slightly hot, but both were outstanding, although the milder was better in texture. This all went well with an aperitif 2005 Lindemans Bin 0555 semillon, bottled under stelvin and still lemon-fresh, but with a note of toast starting to come through.

Duck was in James' sights for the main course, and he brought them home extremely well, with breasts of Dolly Parton dimensions seared then pan-roasted and served with a good red wine based sauce meurette. It was accompanied by some well-executed slightly sweet chopped red cabbage, by some chat potatoes (slightly under)done in goose fat, and a surprise slice of fruit which many identified as a not too sweet stewed quince, briefly finished off in the frypan. Vinously, there had to be, and was, a pinot, the 2009 Stonier from Mornington Peninsula, soft with firm pinot characters but a little short; but also a 2008 Vasse Felix cabernet from Margaret River, a lovely wine in its own right although opinions differed on its suitability for the duck.

Ross' attempts to get a top French cheese were disappointed, so instead we had a top cheese from Holland, an unpasteurised Boerenkass 15-month aged gouda which had an intense rich nutty flavour and a firm dense texture. A green salad went with it, enlivened with a hit of tarragon and some sliced radishes. The accompanying wines were a 2008 Seppelts Chalambar shiraz from a couple of regions in mid Victoria and a 2002 Saltram Mamre Brook Barossa shiraz. The former was rich and clean in the typical style with good drying tannins, whilst the latter provoked a bit of comment , from the " too much fruit and alcohol (15%)" to the "mother's milk", depending on palate, There was no doubt it was a typical but superior fruit bomb Barossa, impressive for its age.

And the question of age reared its head with the coffee, with birthday boy Neil Galbraith (age undisclosed) providing us with a 1981 Lindemans vintage port of soft sweet fruit and a bit of spirit to help its length on the palate. The coffee itself was a single origin Colombian bean sourced from the barista daughter of food master Nick Reynolds, mild and showing distinct bitter chocolate notes on the palate.